Travelling Backwards in time, into the future.

The plane was scheduled to depart Denpasar at 22:05 on Thursday and arrive in Surabaya at 21:55. Technically I did travel in time.

After waiting at the international airport for 28 hours and getting kicked out of the comfortable cafe area for not buying anything, I made my way across to the domestic wing.

The domestic area of the airport is the place where they put all the old furniture, the westerners are few and far between, the taxi drivers less numerous, and the hijabs more numerous.

Unlike in New Zealand, for the domestic flights here, they basically send you onto a bus with a cool interior lighting scheme, unload you onto the apron and point to the plane.  

The Surabaya arrival area was a much more toned down environment in comparison to my previous experiences back in Bali. Although the taxi drivers still swarm around the exit, they are far less persistent than back in Bali. 

I booked a ‘Grab’ ride to my hotel about 13km away in the city centre. I didn’t realise that the Grab service was prohibited from the airport when I booked the ride. I don’t know if this was a ruling brought forth by the airport authorities or whether this was the federation of taxi drivers flexing their muscle.  Either way it was a sketchy situation but I inadvertently found a loophole in the system which the driver was resourceful enough to use.

You see I entered the name of the hotel as my destination rather than a street address, and because of this she was able to introduce herself as the official shuttle driver working on behalf of the hotel, rather than a Grab driver. I was a bit confused initially but managed to play ball once I realize what was happening.

After my recent error in flight planning and subsequent camp-out at Denpasar airport,  I was sorely in need of a break, and so I opted for a type of accommodation which would allow me to get some decent rest and regather my thoughts and belongings. I knew I was going to spend the majority of the first day just catching up on sleep and getting the laundry done and so I came here:

The Tab Capsule Hotel, Surabaya city.

Each pod is activated by a swipe card and features:

A television

USB charging ports 

UK Power socket

Air conditioning

Adjustable lighting (6 levels)

Digital clock with date and temperature

Mirror

Free bottle of water

Welcome to the Matrix
No smoking please

Every button does something
But no HAL-9000

"Open the Pod Bay doors HAL"

On the 5th floor is a rooftop bar/cafe which serves a free breakfast (and alternative R&B at 09:30 in the morning) consisting of scrambled egg on top of what appears to be one serving ‘Indomie’ instant noodles. If that doesn’t sound appetising, then perhaps only consuming only around 500 calories the previous day and drinking borderline lukewarm bathroom tap water will change your opinion.